Your questions answered

Should we get energy rating cert for buyer?

QWe have a prospective buyer for our house. He had a number of queries which we were able to answer. His latest query is about the Building Energy Rating Certificate which he says we should have. Should we? Also our house was built in the 1920s so it is not up to modern energy efficiency standards and I imagine it would not score very highly on any rating and could put him off. What should we do?

AYou don't have to have a Building Energy Rating (BER) Certificate — yet. Under current regulations, existing buildings when offered for sale or letting on or after January 1st, 2009 must have a BER. So you are not in that timeframe. The buyer is interested in your 1920s house so unless it has significant work done, he should know that it is unlikely to have a high BER rating and it shouldn't put him off.

He should be more interested in the surveyor's report because, for an old house particularly, that is where the immediate and expensive problems will be highlighted. If you really want to get a BER for your house, go to www.sei.ie - the website of Sustainable Energy Ireland. It has the National Register of Building Assessors and you'll find one there who works in your area.

Encroaching by neighbour in communal space

QThere is a small communal roof garden in our apartment block which has been very rarely used since we moved in three years ago. One of the apartments on the top floor opens out onto part of this roof garden. The owner of this apartment has, over the past few months, really encroached on the common area with his own plant pots, garden furniture, etc, and while the area is still open it feels as though we are going into "his" garden. We don't want to confront him directly but we don't want to lose access to this outdoor space.

AIs it possible that the apartment owner has just decided from the goodness of his heart to improve the area with the plants and the furniture? Communal roof gardens can be bleak unfriendly areas and he may have just decided to improve the whole area for everyone to enjoy. However if you really feel unwelcome going up there or if he has in any way fenced off the area, you should first contact your management agent. Its responsibilities depend on what has been agreed between it and your management company (i.e. you and the other apartment owners) but it is likely that one of the duties includes upkeep of all common areas - of which the communal roof garden is one.

Roof gardens are often little-used by the majority of residents which might explain why this resident may have seen the opportunity to take it over. Your management agent will probably instruct the owner to immediately remove all his pots and furniture from the common area. Also contact a board member of your management company to alert them to the situation and it might be an idea for you all to get together to improve the attractiveness of the roof garden or at least at the next AGM discuss what you as residents can do to make the common areas more enjoyable for all.

Your questions

Send your queries to Property questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.